Justice
by dysprositos
Summary: Thor faces the most difficult decision of his life. What is more important, one man, or an entire realm? A brother, or a kingdom? To whom is he more tightly bound?


**Thanks, as always, to my awesome beta, irite.**

**Warning for major character death.**

**I do not own Thor or Loki, though I wouldn't object to that.**

* * *

"I have been framed," Loki insisted, his voice tinged with a nearly-undetectable panic. Thor heard it anyway, loud and clear, though he did not know if it was real or feigned. "You know that, Thor." Loki glanced to his left and right, at the guards flanking him, but their faces were blank.

Thor followed his gaze, then shook his head, a deep frown etched upon his face. He felt as though he had not smiled in years. "I know nothing, Loki, but what you have told me. And you lie as easily as you breathe." The words tasted bitter, dry. He could not believe he was saying them.

But they had to be said.

"You don't trust me." Loki sounded almost calm. As if what was to happen meant nothing to him. But he was playing his part perfectly, the script they had discussed falling from his lips as if it were all true. His calm was almost believable.

Almost, but not quite.

Thor looked at his brother for the first time since they had commenced their long walk. "I would be a fool if I did, would I not?" This time, as he spoke, he felt almost physically sick. He was amazed his words came out so evenly. His voice did not shake at all.

He knew that would change before the day was over. Today, he thought, might break him, if the last few months had left anything intact to break.

Today was the day that had been decreed as the date of Loki's execution. It was Thor's seal on the orders, Thor's duty to see to the protection of the citizens of Asgard.

To see that justice was done for the crime that had been committed.

It was a heinous crime. Perhaps not worse than genocide, but a crime that struck closer to home, that struck fear into the hearts of the people of Asgard. Something that made them question themselves, their future.

Their king.

Thor had taken the throne of Asgard as Odin slipped again into the Odinsleep shortly after the last war. It was a heavy burden, and one that he had felt he was not ready to take on. But his mother guided him, and he was given comfort by his new wife, Jane, and then later, their young son. Together, they gave Thor the strength he needed to lead his people, and it was with joy and pride he watched his family grow.

Until it had been ripped away from him.

That had just been the beginning.

* * *

It had been...grisly.

His family had been murdered, cut to pieces in their chambers in the palace. In a nearly-inaccessible area, guarded and well-warded. No hostile force should have been able to reach them. Thor had thought them safe. Indeed, they _should _have been—Asgard was at peace, the realm was quiet and content for the first time since Thor's banishment, what felt like eons ago.

He had thought them safe, and yet, he had been wrong. So wrong.

The evidence, what little there was, pointed to Loki. Largely, it was circumstantial. He knew the palace well, could get from place to place undetected. The guards showed signs of enchantment, of a sort that required a powerful caster. But there was physical evidence, as well—there had been blood under Jane's nails, and upon examination, Loki was shown to have a series of scratches on his arms that looked very much like they had been caused by fingernails.

Loki was condemned before he'd even had a trial.

No one, let alone Loki, was surprised by this.

After Asgard's last war, he had been granted a pardon for his previous crimes and given his freedom, as a reward for the part he'd played in their victory. He had, in fact, been instrumental in saving Thor's life. And Jane's. And the entirety of both Midgard and Asgard. He was, though he shunned the word, a hero.

"It was in my best interests," he had said, to explain his actions. "Your death, Thor, would have been terribly inconvenient, given the number of threats I received before embarking on our little journey. If any harm befell you, I surely would not have been spared."

And so, despite his seeming indifference to the measure, he was made, once again, a full citizen of Asgard. As time passed, he grew closer to Thor, often offering him counsel. Nothing could ever erase Loki's past crimes, yet the time he had spent imprisoned, along with his mission to save Asgard and Midgard, had changed him. In subtle ways, at first, but the small changes became more pronounced, and eventually Thor could see that Loki was no longer the megalomaniacal fiend who had sought to conquer two realms. He had, in fact, become someone quite different. Someone Thor felt he could trust. Implicitly.

Yet most of the people of Asgard did not look upon him kindly, saw only a foreign, dangerous creature. A creature who dwelled in the palace, close to the royal family. A creature who whispered unknown words into the ear of the king of Asgard.

And they did not trust him.

Despite that, Thor was able to quell the whispering. He was, after all, a hero, and undeniably strong. They would not question his judgment to his face, as long as he was there to put a stop to it.

But this...even Thor could not put a stop to this fervor. Not after what had happened. Not now.

And so the accusations flew. They said that Loki had been biding his time. Had been more than happy to wait, to regain Thor's favor and then strike viciously, taking from Thor the family of which Loki was, it was said, intensely jealous.

Loki, of course, denied everything. He said he was innocent. He had an alibi, a guard who said that Loki had been in the library for the whole day the murders had occurred. He claimed the gouges on his arm were the result of faulty spellwork, of a summoning spell gone awry. But alibis are cheap, and Loki was cunning. Surely, it was said, he was capable of covering his tracks. And who else but Loki would wish harm on Asgard's young queen and prince?

Thor listened to Loki, and he looked at the evidence. He considered it, considered everything.

Frigga tried to step into the place in Thor's life that Loki had vacated, tried to guide him, but he could not listen to her. Nor could he listen to his friends, to Sif and the others, no matter how they tried to help him. Nothing they said could penetrate the hollow numbness in which he'd allowed himself to become ensconced.

He felt betrayed, and it made him reckless. Obstinate.

He thought perhaps he needed time to think, to focus, to get his thoughts in order.

And so, against his mother's advice, he retreated to his quarters to grieve, leaving orders that he was not to be disturbed for anything.

He thought he was doing the right thing.

But he was wrong about that, too.

It was a mistake. _The _mistake. The mistake that unraveled everything, but Thor hadn't been thinking. He'd been too eager to escape, to get away, to mourn that which he had lost away from the prying eyes of his kingdom.

Perhaps he should have known that nothing he did would ever be away from the prying eyes of his kingdom, but he was still young. Relatively inexperienced. And not above making stupid mistakes.

Stupid, fatal mistakes.

While he was sequestered, the kingdom fell into utter chaos. Loki was thrown into the dungeons pending his trial, and the rumors which had been smoldering for days ignited into a burst of flame. The people of Asgard said Loki was guilty. They said that he had enchanted Thor, had worked a subtle spell upon him so that Thor would trust his treacherous counsel. They said that Thor couldn't see things objectively, couldn't see the danger his brother posed.

And now he was reaping what had been sowed.

They began to question him, his leadership. They said that by trusting Loki, he had endangered the realm. That he had weakened the realm, had left them open to attack. While he refused to act, while the traitor lived, Asgard would appear vulnerable to its enemies. It was only a matter of time before someone noticed.

For days, Thor remained isolated and the rumors spread. The panic spread. Until, finally, it all erupted.

A riot broke out as a crowd of people from the palace attempted to break into the dungeons to mete out the punishment they felt Loki deserved. Since, it seemed, Thor was unable to do what needed to be done himself. They would right this wrong, show a strong, united front, even as their king refused to act.

The riot was contained, although there were casualties. As Thor's advisors relayed the news, Heimdall himself striding into Thor's quarters to deliver the message, he knew that he could wait no longer to address the situation. He had, in fact, waited too long.

And so, heart heavy with grief, he called for a trial. Even as he felt _off_, as he could not find it in himself to believe Loki guilty. Perhaps, he thought, his people were right. His _sentiment_ was clouding his judgment. After all, his family had been slaughtered, and he grieved for them ferociously. It made sense that he would cling to what family he had left, would refuse to see the truth that would hurt him more than he had been hurt already.

This had to be done. He could not let his weakness, the fear of pain, stop him from doing what needed to be done. Thor knew he had to do this, to prove he was capable of leading, even now. He was not ready, but it could not wait.

And it was as bad as he had feared it would be. The trial was a farce, and it was, Thor felt, in poor taste. Loki would not speak in his own defense. He would not speak at all, in fact, choosing instead to glare imperiously at the whispering crowd. Thor prompted him, all but begging Loki to say something, anything, that would make this better, but he would not say a word. The advocates who were meant to plead Loki's case had little to say that had not already been said, and as Loki would not speak to them, either, they were of little use.

There were, in contrast, throngs of 'witnesses' willing to speak _against _Loki. As it was dictated by the law, Thor listened to each of them, even as he wanted, more often than not, to silence them with the aid of Mjolnir. As king, that was not appropriate behavior, and he knew that if he even gave the appearance of favoring his brother, his position would be further weakened, perhaps permanently. He needed the people to trust him, to trust that he could truly do what was best for the realm. And he needed to give the appearance that he was strong, that _Asgard _was strong.

And that's what it came down to, in the end.

There was evidence, and little counter evidence, and Thor could not ignore what was in front of him.

He could not ignore it and still expect the trust and respect of his subjects. And if he lost that, then he might well lose the realm. Peace was tenuous, Asgard still recovering. Another war was a risk he could not, under any circumstances, take.

He needed to look strong, needed to look like he was protecting his people.

So he handed down his verdict.

And he vowed to stand behind it.

Loki was guilty and would die for it.

Later, he went to see his brother, who had been re-situated in his dungeon cell to await the day his sentence was to be carried out. The look he fixed on Thor was disdainful.

"Are you truly stupid enough to fall for this, Thor?" Loki asked, now apparently willing to talk. "I am a victim, here, as much as your wife and son—"

"Do not speak of them," Thor spat. Thinking of them, of what had happened, still hurt. More than he could bear.

"I apologize," Loki replied, stiff and formal. He drew back to the far side of his cell, away from the door, away from Thor. "But I must protest your decision." He glanced to the side, then curled one corner of his mouth up in a wry half-smile. "I must also protest the seeming ease with which you reached it."

Thor felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach, hard. He choked out, "Ease? You believe it was an easy decision? You know _nothing _of what I have suffered." What he _still _suffered, as the guilt churned in his stomach, as he remembered the betrayed look on his mother's face as he read his verdict. And Loki thought this _easy_?

Loki inclined his head. "You are correct, of course. I know not the burden of ruling. I know only the burden of a death sentence." His voice was flat, vaguely accusing. He would not meet Thor's eyes.

Thor said, "Brother, what choice did I have? Why would you not speak? What else could I have done?"

Loki gave a half-shrug. "I know not." He paused. "Although, perhaps I should commend you."

Thor raised a questioning eyebrow, and Loki went on, "Your sacrifice of me for the sake of your own position? I am impressed. It was...far more shrewd than what I had considered you capable of."

That feeling of having been punched in the stomach intensified. "Loki..."

But what defense did he have? Was that not exactly what he done? But he _needed _to lead, needed to show he was strong. Needed to prevent more rioting and violence. The kingdom had been ripped apart after what had happened, after his family's murder. He couldn't let things fall further into disarray, he had to act. He had needed to listen to his people, and this was what they had demanded.

Thor's own feelings on the matter be damned.

So he shut his mouth with a click, and Loki's face split into a full-on grin. It was not a happy expression. After a moment, he said, "I was not foolish enough to believe that the people of Asgard had forgiven me. That they have not has been abundantly clear. But I had thought we had put _our_ quarrels behind us."

"We had," Thor answered angrily. "But Loki, what you have done, I _cannot_ forgive."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "We are alone. Let us not play pretend. You do not truly believe me guilty of what I have been accused."

Damn it, was he so transparent? "How dare you presume—"

"Thor," Loki interrupted, sounding, for once, patient and not condescending. "If you truly believed me guilty, you would not be here. Nor would I. You would not have deliberated so long before calling for my trial. You are not, even now, known for keeping a level head. Especially in matters concerning your wife and son. If you truly believed I had harmed them, you would have acted without thinking, consequences be damned."

That stopped Thor effectively, as much as he tried to ignore Loki's words. He liked to think he had changed from the rash, hot-headed youth he had once been, but his temper did occasionally still get the best of him. And when he had seen what had become of his family, he _had _been enraged. But he had not lashed out, even as the evidence pointed to Loki. To the brother who had been standing right next to him.

It took him a minute to gather his thoughts before he could reply. "I...Loki. You are right."

Loki smirked. "And yet here I stand, condemned." He raised an eyebrow. "But...can you actually see this done? See it through to the...end? That is the real question, is it not?"

Thor was reeling. "Of course not, brother. I have made a mistake." He had foolishly let himself be led astray, had been led instead of leading himself. But he could undo this.

Loki shrugged, graceful even in the awkwardly fitted prison garments he wore. "And yet, if you release me...what of the realm? What of the stability that you owe to your people?" He looked up at Thor, eyes narrowed. "You must make a choice. What is truly important to you?"

Thor thought, then, of the years he had spent with Loki in their youth, before all of the evil that had come between them. Before the wars, the fighting. He remembered Loki, what they had been to each other. Brothers. They had protected each other, had cared for each other, had sworn to always be there for each other.

But Thor also remembered Asgard. The palace, the cities, the people. The history. The entirety of which he had been born and raised and entrusted to guard. There was an entire kingdom depending on him for their leadership, to keep them safe. Men, women, and children.

And Thor knew the answer to Loki's question. What was more important, one man, or an entire realm? A brother, or a kingdom? To whom was he more tightly bound?

He looked away, eyes scanning the featureless stone wall, looking for anything to distract him from this, the awful truth he was faced with. There was nothing, no reprieve. The fact of what he must do was inescapable.

And as Thor knew, Loki knew, too. He nodded once. "Then it will be done."

Thor found that he could not meet Loki's eyes.

If this was the right choice, then why was he so guilty?

* * *

Loki was seemingly accepting of his fate, but Thor was not quite so resigned.

He had some time, though not nearly what he wished for. He tried to seek out the true murderers. But he had to be subtle, to hide the fact that he doubted his brother's guilt. That he doubted _himself_.

It slowed him down.

Too much.

And working alone, without the support of his friends (however much he trusted them, he could _not _trust them with this), without the support of his family, wore on him. Even his mother had turned her back on him, could not bear to look at him after what he had decreed was to be done. He did not blame her—she had always held Loki close to her heart—yet it still hurt. He couldn't think about it, though, could only ignore his feelings of abject abandonment as he focused on finding the person responsible for the death of his wife and son and exonerating Loki.

He had few leads. Whispers, mostly. Of people dissatisfied with his choice of bride. Of people who claimed his son was a half-breed, a freak. Unclean. Whispers that there were those who would have gladly seen the royal family destroyed so that Asgard could be lead by someone of pure blood.

But they were only whispers, and he found nothing concrete.

And with the weight of the realm on his shoulders, daily duties he could not put off, he didn't have the time he needed. There just wasn't enough time.

He stayed Loki's execution once, using an excuse that sounded weak even to his own ears. Thor said that he wanted to give Loki more time to reflect on what he'd done. Almost immediately, Thor's judgment had been called into question, the people claiming his brother had bewitched him, that he was unfit to rule. That he was making Asgard weak, in a time where they could not afford to even appear so.

Loki castigated Thor for his actions, for risking his position, and Thor didn't know what he'd expected, honestly. Gratitude, perhaps, but not the tongue-lashing that Loki had given him.

When Loki was done lecturing, he told Thor exactly how things were going to happen, down to the words they would say. He had, he said, planned it all out, had figured out how to make it convincing. Thor could leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he believed Loki guilty, because even a shadow of a doubt could prove to be the realm's undoing.

There would, Loki said, be no more delays. This had to happen, and soon.

Thor was stunned by the level of _acceptance _Loki seemed to show, had been from the beginning, but now it burst out of him in an angry torrent. "Loki, I do not understand you! You are to be killed, and you act as though it matters not!"

There was a long, long silence, before Loki replied evenly, "This is the end I have been expecting for a long time, Thor, though I expected it to come on your father's orders. I have had time to prepare." He paused, then added, almost offhand, "It is reassuring to finally see you thinking like a strategist. And I have had much practice at being a pawn. I will play my part in this. Will you?"

His words were not reassuring, and it did nothing to numb the soul-shredding guilt, but somehow, Thor didn't think that had been Loki's intent. Loki had just been stating a fact, saw this whole thing as a necessary move.

That hurt Thor more than anything, that Loki would so willingly do this for the sake of his brother's crown.

"You don't have to do this, brother. Not for me."

Loki gave a small, mocking half-bow. "It is the least I can do. I took your crown once, I will not be the cause of you losing it again."

That took Thor aback. He had not thought Loki harbored guilt for what he had done, not now, perhaps not ever. But this...this seemed to indicate otherwise. "You cannot believe that this is what you...deserve. We have put the past behind us, Loki. We have moved on."

"Perhaps," Loki agreed, almost amicably. "Or perhaps these things are never any further behind us than our shadows." He glanced at the wall behind him, where his own shadow loomed over him. "And you know how hard _those _are to escape."

Thor thought he did.

Even if he hadn't, as the date of Loki's execution drew nearer, he had more than ample time to reflect on what, exactly, his brother had meant

* * *

Loki knelt on the raised dais in the center of the room, his hair loose around his face, hands tied behind his back. Thor stood in front of him, shoulders back. A large crowd was gathered around them, the room packed.

"Brother," Thor said, his voice low enough that it did not carry beyond the two of them. "I cannot do this." He had thought he could. But now he was here, and his hands were shaking. Minutely. Imperceptibly. But he knew.

"You must," Loki hissed. He looked up slightly, just enough to meet Thor's eyes. "You love your people, but they are mercurial, and they will destroy you if you let them. Do not let them."

Thor could not listen to him, could not fathom what he was saying. "We could leave. Make our home somewhere else. Midgard. I have friends—"

"No," Loki replied, voice flat. "You made your choice already."

"And you won't let me back out of it, will you, Loki?"

"No. You have never had trouble standing on principle, I do not see why you have started now."

"Because I am about to execute the only family I have left." Even as he said the words, it still seemed unreal to him. That he had chosen to sacrifice his brother. For his kingdom. And no one would ever know the size of the sacrifice, would ever know what had been done.

It was unfair.

"Mother may forgive you eventually," Loki said idly, glancing behind Thor to where Frigga stood apart from the crowd, her face hard and cold. "Your father may awaken again someday. I am sure he will be glad to be rid of me."

"You jest now? Of all times?" Thor felt like he was going to be sick, and Loki was smirking as if this were all a joke to him.

"Yes, now, of all times, brother. What is life, if not a comedy?" His smirk softened, and then he was smiling. Actually smiling.

Thor felt one corner of his mouth turn up in response, even as he felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

This _was not _fair.

A grumble went up in the crowd; they could not figure out what was taking so long. Thor felt a flash of hot rage, that he had been driven to this by the very people who called _him _king. And then he understood, crystal clear, that being king was not about wielding power. It was about enslaving himself to maintain it. That was all he was, really, a slave to the power that had been given to him, to the responsibility that had fallen heavily upon his shoulders. He owed his people, he needed to protect them because he was their king, and that was what they needed.

Thor was a king, and he would do what he needed to do, as a king.

And so he met Loki's eyes one last time, and Loki gave a small fraction of a nod, either of acceptance or encouragement. Perhaps both. And then Thor stepped back, gesturing for the executioner to step forward.

He read the list of charges against Loki, and then the sentence that Thor had imposed.

Throughout, Thor kept hoping, wishing, that Loki would vanish, would somehow magic himself out of this. But he listened to the executioner attentively, his expression carefully blank.

And when he was told to lean forward and rest his head upon the wood block in front of him, he did so immediately, casting one last look towards where Thor stood next to Frigga.

Then, Loki closed his eyes.

And Thor...Thor did, too. He felt it might be his duty to watch Loki die, to do that one last thing for his brother, but Thor found he could not. He was too weak, had lost too many people already. Had lost everyone.

He did not think Loki would begrudge him this weakness.

The crowd, which had been shuffling, jostling each other, went completely still. Thor felt his shoulders stiffen in apprehension.

In the silence, the sound of the axe falling was very loud.

And then the crowd cheered.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**

**Review if you're so inclined. I always appreciate it, even if you just want to yell at me.**


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